WEBVTT UTILITY CREWS AREEXPECTING TO BE WORKING FOR DAYSTO CLEAN UP.>> IT'S A MESS.A LOT OF CHAINSAWS, A LOT OFYELLOW LIGHT.CHERISE: THE FAMILY IS COOKINGON A GRILL AND GETTING WARMED UPAFTER THE POWER HAS BEEN OUTSINCE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.TONIGHT UTILITY CREWS AREWORKING IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE,TREES AND WIRES DOWN EVERYWHERE,THE FAMILY SAYING THE NOR'EASTERWAS INTENSE.>> A LOT OF ANXIETY, A LOT OFWIND.CHERISE: THEY'RE JUST ONE FAMILYOF THE THOUSANDS AFFECTED BYSUCH INTENSE WINDS, DAMAGE ISVISIBLE NEARLY EVERYWHERE YOULOOK DOWN ROUTE 109 INTOTUFTONBORO, THIS HOUSE NEARMIRROR LAKE SITS WITH SHATTEREDWINDOWS AND MAJOR DAMAGE.POLICE COULDN'T TELL US WHETHERANYONE WAS HOME AT THE TIME ATREE CAME CRASHING DOWN ONTO IT.PEOPLE ALL OVER THIS REGIONSAYING THEY HAVEN'T SEEN WINDSLIKE THOSE DURING THE STORM INYEARS.>> LAST NIGHT WAS PROBABLY THEHARDEST WINDS WE'VE EVER HADHERE.CHERISE: NEW HAMPSHIRE ELECTRICCO-OP OFFICIALS SAY CREWS COULDBE WORKING THROUGH FRIDAY TO GETEVERYONE BACK UP ONLINE.OFFICIALS SAY A WARMING SHELTERAT MOULTONBOROUGH ACADEMY WILLSTAY OPEN UNTIL 7:00 TOMORROWMORNING.AS FOR THE TOWERS, THEY'RE JUSTGRATEFUL THEY'RE ALL SAFE, INTHE MIDST OF HEARING TREES SNAPALL NIGHT.>> YOU COULD HEAR THE TREESBEHIND THE HOUSE SNAP.GOD KNOWS WHERE THE TOPS WHEN.CHERISE: AT THIS HOUR, JUSTUNDER 6000 PEOPLE REMAIN WITHOUTPOWER.HERE IN THE CENTER OF MEREDITHWE BUMPED INTO A FEW PEOPLE FROMMARITAL TO SET THEY HAD TO COMEDOWN HERE JUST TO STEP INSIDE ARESTAURANT OR A GAS STATION ORMCDONALD'S JUST SO THEY COULDGET WARM.THEY'VE HEARD IT COULD BE FRIDAY

Thousands remained without power in the northern Lakes Region Wednesday night after Tuesday’s powerful nor’easter pushed over trees and power lines.

At the peak of the outages, officials with New Hampshire Electric Co-op said about 12,500 of their 84,000 customers were in the dark.

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Wednesday evening, hundreds of line crews were in Moultonborough and Tuftonboro working to get trees off power lines, restore utility poles and repair damage to a major transmission line that supplies power to substations in the area.

Route 109 was especially hard-hit.

"A mess. A lot of chainsaws, a lot of yellow lights,” Rick Tower of Moultonborough said about the scene outside his door when he woke up Wednesday morning.

The Tower family had to cook dinner on a grill outside and warmed up by a wood stove in their Moultonborough home as the power has been out since Tuesday afternoon.

Utility crews continued to work in front of their house Wednesday, trees and wires down everywhere.

The family said the nor'easter was intense.

"Lots of anxiety, lot of wind. You could hear the trees cracking all around us," Tower said.

They're just one family of the thousands affected by such intense winds. Damage is visible nearly everywhere you look down Route 109 into Tuftonboro.

A home near Mirror Lake was badly damaged when a tree came down on it. Police couldn't tell News9 whether anyone was home at the time.

People all over this region said they haven't seen winds like those during the storm in years.

"Last night was probably the hardest winds that we've had here," Robert Hammond of Moultonborough said.

New Hampshire Electric Co-op officials said crews could be working through Friday to get everyone back up online.

Officials said a warming shelter at Moultonborough Academy will stay open until 7 a.m. Thursday.

As for the Towers, they're just grateful they're all safe in the midst of hearing trees snap all night.

"You could hear the pine trees behind the house snap. God knows where the tops went," Tower said.